Poison & Wine - Chapter IV

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Andy was walking through a green field decorated with various flowers and the sun beaming down on it. Birds chirped and bees zoomed around as she leaned her head back to bask in the sunlight. After a moment, she sensed someone was approaching and turned to see a man standing closer to the edge of the field. Immediately a smile pulled at her lips as recognition hit her, though her mind was wondering why she was feeling overjoyed at seeing him.

"Elijah!"

Andy grinned at him as they both approached one another. Instead of the short hair she had first seen him with, he now had shoulder length hair and wore a dirty, brown tunic. He was smiling at her as they closed the distance between them, and as soon as he reached her grabbed her by the waist. As he leaned to kiss her, Andy noticed that the sun had disappeared and the field had turned dark and cold, the sounds of nature no longer accompanying it. Looking around the field began to darken, and she looked over at Elijah in fear only to see his body was turning gray, his expression lifeless. Andy jumped back out of fear as Elijah's body collapsed to the ground. Behind Elijah's crumpled body stood the man with the cerulean eyes from her earlier dreams.

Andy turned and began running as fast as she could, but even then, she felt as if he was right behind her. She made it into the forest and went to glance back to see he was still standing in the distance. However, this distraction caused her to bump into a tree and nearly fall. Groaning, she grabbed at her shoulder and kept running, hoping that her stupidity hadn't damned her. After a few more moments of running, she came to three coffins. Pausing, she glanced back to see there was a sea of trees and the man was nowhere in sight. Turning back to the coffins, she saw they were now gone.

She slowly began walking, jumping in fear as she heard the distant sounds of a wolf howling. Her bare feet were freezing against the cold, wet ground. She wrapped her arms around her torso but even then, she felt as if she couldn't get warm. When she glanced down at her outfit she saw her green dress was ripped and dirtied. A snap of a branch to her left caused her to freeze in fear, but she saw nothing as she looked in the direction. When she turned to go in the opposite direction of the sound, she saw one coffin sitting in between the trees. Reluctantly, she approached, wearily realizing it wasn't like the other coffins.

It was plain, with a black exterior. Andy ran her hands over the top, feeling as if the coffin was breathing and calling to her. She contemplated turning around but something was telling her to open it. As she went to open it, the lid flew open on its own, and she was met with the faces of her parents. She gasped and quickly backed away in horror, only to be met with the man again.

"Nik…" Andy whimpered out, her voice wavering. How did she know his name? She didn't recognize him, but for some reason, Nik sounded right to her. He stood there silently, lifting his hand out to her. His eyes slowly changed from the blue into the amber she had seen before. Finally, he spoke up.

"Anastasia," He whispered, the name sounding as if it floated right off his lips.

Andy turned to run, forgetting about the coffin behind her. She tripped and fell halfway into the coffin, though it was now empty. As she did her best to scramble to her feet, she felt arms begin to grab her, and a scream built up in her throat as she did her best to break free of the hold.

Andy woke up with a start, her breathing ragged and forehead sweaty. She gasped for air, putting a hand over her chest as she composed herself. Once she had, she looked up to see she was in an unfamiliar room. Where was she?

Her mind slowly caught up to her, reminding her of the masquerade and how she and Elena had been kidnapped…

Please tell me it was a dream, Andy thought to herself as she looked down to see that she was in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She had been kidnapped by vampires, seen one of them beheaded, then saved by vampires... wait, Elena said Stefan was a vampire. So, she was dating a vampire? The last thing Andy remembered was riding in Damon's car on the way back, and how tired she had begun to feel. Had that part been a dream? Or perhaps that vampire Rose had grabbed them on the way back? She wasn't sure, but all of this thinking was making her headache worse. Fortunately, she glanced over to see there was a glass of water on the nightstand. She quickly chugged it along with a couple pills from the Advil bottle.

Standing to her feet, Andy looked more closely at her surroundings. She was in a bedroom for sure, though it looked like it belonged to someone who had just read Better Homes and Garden. The bed was a king and felt soft against her sore back, and there was a fireplace, a large bookshelf, and a couch in the room. There were gaudy paintings on the wall, and the architecture of the room made it feel old, though the updated furniture helped bring it into the twenty-first century.

Glancing around, Andy decided to grab the fire poker in case she needed to fight off anyone. Finally, she started to make her way out of the bedroom. As she opened the door, she made sure to glance both ways to ensure no one was going to surprise attack her. Then she began creeping through the hallway. However, she didn't make it far down the hall before creaking on the staircase she had been heading towards alerted her someone was approaching. She quickly opened a door and jumped into the room, lifting the fire poker over her head in preparation to bust whoever was approaching over the head.

With bated breath, Andy waited as the person moved closer and closer. She felt as if her heart was going to explode and did her best to keep quietly breathing. As the person started to walk past, Andy went to hit them, only to see it was just Jeremy passing by her. When he saw her move, he jumped in surprise and managed to jump out of the way of her swing. His shock only grew when he saw the weapon in her hand.

"Jeremy!" Andy exclaimed, relieved to see someone else's face other than a vampire's… or at least she hoped that she wasn't about to.

"Andy! What are you doing?" Jeremy asked, gesturing to the fire poker.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, Jeremy, but I'm not exactly in the best state right now," Andy said, lowering the fire poker and speaking in a rushed whisper. "I was kidnapped! And then I'm told vampires are real and then I see one get decapitated. To top it all off I wake up in an unfamiliar place with different clothes on and no one is in sight. I mean, I drank water on the bedside and it was probably poisoned or something!"

"Calm down, okay? You're safe now," Jeremy said as he took a step towards her. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled small at her. "You're back in Mystic Falls. At Stefan and Damon's place."

Andy stared at her brother in surprise for a moment. The Salvatore Boarding House? She had been inside of it before, but only briefly and stayed downstairs. Glancing around, she could now tell it was the same old house. She paused for a second as she thought about whose room she was in. It looked like someone lived in it, not like the spare bedrooms, though it had been a boarding house before. Still, she felt herself grow pink at the thought she had slept in Damon's bed.

"Andy?" Jeremy questioned, looking at her in worry.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at him. "Uh, sorry. Um, so if I'm back in Mystic Falls… that means all that stuff did happen?" She asked him.

Jeremy gave her a sympathetic look. "We should go downstairs. The others want to talk to you as well." He turned and began walking. For a moment Andy considered darting down the opposite way of the hall and making a run for it out one of the windows. However, Jeremy turned to see if she was following, and she knew he wouldn't lead her into a death trap.

With a sigh, she followed him, though kept the fire poker tight in her hands.

Andy followed Jeremy silently, looking back every other second to see if anyone was following her. Finally, they made it to the bottom of the stairs and she looked to see all her friends were waiting in the room. Elena sat by Stefan on the couch, while Caroline sat on the couch opposite from them. Damon stood by the alcohol, a half empty glass already in his hands. However, as soon as Andy came into view they all stopped speaking and turned to look at her.

"You planning on hitting someone with that?" Damon questioned, referring to the fire poker.

Andy simply gave him a fake smile and held it up. "Are you volunteering?"

"You wouldn't even be able to touch me, Andy," Damon replied.

"Do you want to see if I can?" Andy shot back, beginning to approach him but Jeremy was quick to step in between them.

"Listen, I don't like him anymore than you do, but now isn't really the time," Jeremy said, looking at Andy. She sighed and rolled her eyes, lowering the fire poker.

"So… this isn't some sort of plot to get me to join a cult, is it?" Andy asked, looking over at her friends. "Because if it is, then that is so not cool. I think I'm gonna give it a hard pass this time."

Elena stood to her feet and walked over to her sister. "Andy, listen… I know it's a lot to process."

Andy held up her hand. "I'm not a child. You don't have to use kid gloves with me," She pointed out, then looked over at Stefan. "I want answers to all of my questions. Now."

"Okay," Stefan nodded in agreement as he stood as well. Andy's grip tightened on the fire poker as she watched him cautiously, not entirely trusting him, Caroline, or Damon yet. "That's a good place to start. What do you want to know?"

By the time Andy had finished her line of questioning, she found herself staring down at the ground with a mixture of emotions. Vampire. Werewolves. Witches. A 500-year-old vampire that looked exactly like her twin sister and if Trevor was to be believed, then Andy was a doppelganger as well. Moreover, Elena was a part of some ritual to break the sun and moon curse on vampires and werewolves.

The information that hurt Andy the most was when Elena reluctantly explained that they were adopted. Apparently, they were the product of a relationship of John's, their uncle, and their parents had adopted them after having trouble getting pregnant. Andy had always been close to John despite his general asshole persona, but she had loved her parents. Her family had been her everything, and then the two matriarchs were taken from them. All she could wonder was why Elena didn't tell her this sooner.

Sitting there on the couch next to her brother, Andy did her best to sort out her feelings. She understood why she wasn't told about the supernatural as before now they didn't think she was involved in any way. Withholding information of their adoption did anger Andy a bit and was the main reason for her silence now.

"Say something, Andy," Elena pleaded. Her brown eyes were filled with worry as she stared at her sister. She was afraid Andy would be angry with her and never speak to her again.

"Say what? That I like the fact you're hanging out with vampires? More specifically, dating one?" Andy gestured to Stefan. "Because honestly, I don't. I like Stefan and all, but the whole love thing is a bit set up for failure in my opinion."

"Wow, tell us what you really think," Caroline said, looking at Andy with a frown.

"I'm just telling her what I think," Andy said as she stood to her feet. She began pacing. "I mean, this is all so weird. I was kidnapped and saw a man decapitate someone with his bare hands. One sweep and—bam… Trevor was dead. And the fact that vampires can compel people to do what they want… it makes me wonder if a lot of things were real." She threw a glance in Damon's direction before stopping to fold her arms over her chest. "I think I'm in shock. Do you go numb all over when you're in shock? Because I think I'm starting to go numb."

"Andy, you're not going into shock," Damon said with a roll of his eyes.

"You're a vampire. Do you even know what shock is? Or human emotion in general?" Andy replied, looking at him with a scowl.

"I think he's just a defective model," Caroline commented.

"You're such a charmer, blondie. Must be why Matt likes you so much," Damon replied sarcastically.

"Alright, just calm down," Stefan said to his brother and Caroline before the two could get into another argument. He turned to look at Andy. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Andy hesitated a moment before she looked down at her wrist where the bracelet she had been wearing. "You said vervain stopped vampires from compulsion. Elijah took my bracelet and tossed it because he said it had vervain… but I didn't always wear it," She looked over at Damon then. "Did any of you ever compel me?"

Suddenly the air grew thick with tension as they all shifted uncomfortably. Andy stood there, staring at them in surprise as none of them wanted to respond. "Well, don't grow shy now," She said bitterly, holding up the fire poker. "Who did it? Was it Stefan or Damon? Or maybe Caroline finally got that sweet revenge from when I punched her freshman year?"

"You saw me feed on Caroline and snap Jeremy's neck," Damon answered finally, looking at her with a blank expression. "I needed to cover my tracks. It's not that big of a deal."

Andy stared back at him, her expression souring. "You did what?"

"It's water under the bridge. Right guys?" Damon said as he looked over at the two wronged parties. They didn't look like they agreed with him but remained silent. He turned and finished off his bourbon before beginning to pour another as if he had said he had gone to the store and bought soy milk rather than hurt the people she loved. Andy started to walk towards him with the fire poker and a scowl but Stefan quickly stood up and moved in her way. She wanted to knock some sense into his brother but Stefan apparently didn't want that to happen.

"So is that why there were so many deaths? These animal attacks were all just you! Matt's sister died, Damon. And what, you can just sit there and act as if it wasn't your fault! What kind of a monster do you have to be to take a human life?" Andy snapped, then looked over at Stefan in irritation. "Stefan, I'm not entirely happy with you right now, but if you don't let me hit your brother you're about to get to meet this fire poker as well."

Damon turned to look at Andy, looking somewhat affected by her words but still didn't go out of his way to apologize. "Listen, maybe you just need some more rest, okay?" Elena suggested as she walked over to Stefan and Andy. "We should get home anyways. I'm sure Jenna is wondering where we are. We can answer any questions you might have later."

Andy sighed and tossed the fire poker off to the side, though was making a mental note to slip some vervain into Damon's drink the next time he came to the Grill. That would give him an extra burn. She glowered at Damon before she nodded to Elena.

"Fine, but before we go I want you all to make me a promise. That you will never, ever compel me again nor have me compelled by another vampire… and that I get to help you all with solving this sun and moon curse issue," Andy said. Elena began to argue with the second request but Andy was quick to cut her off. "Even if I didn't wasn't a doppelganger, I am your sister, Elena. Family doesn't abandon one another when one of us is supposed to be sacrificed to an old ass ritual. For all we know I could be involved in this ritual as well. The moment we were kidnapped this became my business."

Stefan and Caroline both agreed not to compel her, and Damon gave a half-hearted affirmation he wouldn't. Elena, after a moment of looking at Andy, gave a sigh of her own. "Fine, but this might get violent. And if it does, then you have got to promise me you and Jeremy will back off."

Andy rolled her eyes but decided she would take it. "Okay, I promise, but I'm not backing down so easily."

"I'll give you guys a ride home," Damon offered.

Andy scoffed. "You've been drinking this past hour. No way in hell am I riding in a car with you."

"I'm headed home as well," Jeremy said, holding up his car keys. "We'll be fine."

"Well, I'd say if no vampires decide to make us their dinner we should be," Andy said as she turned and began heading toward the door. "And that wasn't an invitation to."

Elena and Stefan exchanged a look of longing and sympathy before she turned and followed her siblings out the door. The car ride was mostly silent, with Andy gazing you the window thinking of everything she had experienced in the last twenty-four hours. While some of her anger towards Damon was fueled from her hurt from his rejection, she did feel genuinely upset that the Salvatores' arrival to Mystic Falls had caused so much damage. Vicki had been turned but killed, Caroline had been turned but fortunately survived, Jeremy's life was in danger because he was involved and so was Elena's, though Andy thought that she would likely end up becoming a vampire at this rate. She wondered Elena's opinions on becoming a vampire.

Andy's thoughts turned to Katherine, and how they had said that was what drew Damon back to Mystic Falls in the first place. All because of his love for this woman. However, this woman had begun to cause even more destruction to the town than the Salvatores. Honestly, Andy hoped she never came face to face with her, not only because of the trippiness of the whole doppelganger thing, but she was a little scared of her. She was even scared of Damon, Stefan, and Caroline if she were honest. She had seen Elijah behead someone easily, and while he was apparently an Original, they had said heightened strength was a benefit.

She knew she had at least met Katherine once. Elena had explained it was Katherine at the masquerade ball the prior night, which was why Andy had noticed that Elena's behavior was off. Still, the whole doppelganger concept made Andy wonder if it had been Katherine that she had seen kissing Damon and not Elena. If so, she wasn't sure if she was relieved or hurt he still liked Katherine all this time as well. It at least made sense why Damon had been so focused on Elena originally.

By the time the Gilbert children made it home, Andy's eyelids were already wanting to close. She felt like she was going through the motions as she made it inside the house to see Jenna was curled up on the couch.

"Hey! You guys are back. I was wondering where you and Elena had run off to last night. I never heard from you all," Jenna said as Andy walked over to her and sat next to her. Andy leaned her head against Jenna's shoulder to see her aunt was watching Jersey Shore. "Were you with a special someone last night?"

Andy remembered that Jenna had helped her get ready for the masquerade, and now she probably looked like a mess. "Elena and I crashed over at Bonnie's and Caroline's. Don't worry, I didn't consume any alcohol or the sort," She explained, looking up at her aunt with a tired smile. "And that 'special someone' to whom you are referring is no longer special to me. He can fuck off."

"Language," Jenna said, though was fighting a smiling. "I'm glad to see Cupid decided to skip town. Makes me feel a lot less anxious about sending you to that masquerade with the not-so-special someone last night."

As Jenna spoke, Andy thought about how Jenna had known about her and Elena's adoption—which it would be hard to hide the fact you weren't pregnant but now have twins from your sister—but she knew that Jenna would have told her if she had felt it was her place. However, Jenna did not know about vampires, and as Jenna was the person she would always speak to about her problems, she knew it was going to be a struggle not to spill the beans.

"I'm glad to hear Elena's keeping you in line," Jenna continued as Elena and Jeremy walked into the living room. Elena sat on Jenna's other side while Jeremy plopped down next to Andy.

"Ugh, we're watching this?" Jeremy questioned with a groan.

"Hey, it's a train wreck which I happen to enjoy… and Big Brother isn't on right now," Jenna said defensively.

"Jer, you need to stay up with the times," Andy said, playfully nudging him with her elbow as she sat up. "We're millennials. We're supposed to consume this stuff like candy."

"You know you won't win an argument with them, Jer. They've been addicted to reality TV since Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica." Elena said and chuckled when Jenna and Andy let out an excited gasp.

"We got to re-watch it!" Andy said.

"You've watched it a thousand times," Jeremy said. "Can't we watch something else? You like the 80s coming of age films. Let's watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High or The Breakfast Club."

Jenna shook her head. "My birthday is the closest and I am the adult—"

"Are you an adult?" Andy interrupted. "I mean, your age would indicate you are, but you still like CapriSuns."

"They're good! And you drink them too, missy! So I don't want to hear any judgment. Anyways, as the food provider and guardian, I decide… Newlyweds!" Jenna finished, playfully nudging Andy. "And your punishment is to pop some popcorn and get a CapriSun for all of us."

"Oh, how will my poor ego handle this?" Andy replied sarcastically as she stood and walked toward the kitchen. "Having to hold a CapriSun will damage my reputation beyond repair."

"Your ego will handle it the same way it did when you decided to cut your own hair after your dad told you couldn't cut Elena's stuffed animals' hair without her permission," Jenna said, causing Andy's siblings to laugh.

"Your hair was like Tank Girl, remember? Dad used to call you that all the time," Jeremy stated.

"Hey! We all have bad haircuts in our childhood," Andy said as she grabbed the CapriSuns from the fridge. She turned and tossed one at Jeremy's head, but missed it by a couple feet and nearly hit Jenna instead. "And if we're talking haircuts, I think I saw an interesting one of you in tenth grade, Jenna. I think you have your high school yearbook upstairs, right?"

"If you even touch those yearbooks I will destroy our copies of The Simple Life and Fear Factor."

"That was a low blow, Jen. But I'll let it slide this time."

The four of them spent the rest of the evening, mostly reminiscing rather than paying attention to the TV. Eventually, Elena dozed off, and soon after Jenna and Andy followed, all three of them leaning on each other as pillows. Jeremy nearly woke them up, until he realized waking a sleeping Jenna and Andy would be disastrous. Instead, he went to bed himself, realizing how long it had been since the four of them had spent time together. It was an odd occurrence, but completely welcome considering he wasn't sure what would happen with the sun and the moon curse.

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